This invention is a machine designed to remove grapes from the bunch before making wine.
Quality research on the subject of wine production requires carrying out cleaning operations consisting of, after harvesting the grapes, lifting the stalk, leaves and other debris manually or mechanically in a manner to lead only the grapes into the wine making tank.
The present machines that allow automatic separation of grapes from the stalk are made up of a grape harvesting cleaning recovering tray which is arranged above an enclosure closed by a cover and which encloses a cylindrical metallic cage perforated and rotating around its axis. Also in the cage there is an axis coaxial to the cage supporting the separating fingers spreading radially from the axis and put into rotation in order to form a whisk or toothed roller.
The function of these machines is: the grape harvester is placed in the receiving tray serving to feed, by means of a food screw, the cage, whose rotation combined with the rotation of the toothed roller provokes the separation of grapes from the bunch. These grapes are then evacuated from the cage by passing across orifices while the other solid materials undesirable for wine making accumulate at one of the ends of the cage from which they are removed.
Sometimes in these machines small items and other debris from the leaves or stalks also pass through the orifices of the cage which lead to oenologic problems by altering the quality of the wine making material. Besides the stalks, other material must be extracted by means of complex systems increasing the cost price of the machine. Also, the grapes are frequently deteriorated by the food screw, and subjected to different shocks before being removed.
The goal of this invention is to remedy these inconveniences by proposing a machine for separating grapes before making wine from the grapes, improving the cleaning of the grape harvest and at a lower cost price compared to that of present machines.
The machine of this invention is essentially characterized by containing a flat sieve capable of only allowing grapes and juice pass through, and at least one toothed roller moving into axial rotation associated with the sieve and movable in relation to the sieve by a movement relative in translation in a direction parallel to the sieve allowing the separation of the grapes from the stalk by an ejection effect.
In the preferred method of production for this invention, the sieve is continuous and is tight between the guiding rollers. The active part of the sieve is designed to receive the grape harvest. In order to clean the grape harvest, the active part of the sieve is horizontal or inclined and the toothed roller is arranged transversally in the direction of advancing the active part and situated at a determined distance from the active part.
According to an additional characteristic of the invention, the separating fingers of the toothed roller are made of a material possessing a certain elasticity.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the separating fingers are likely to come into contact with the mobile part of the sieve or near to it.
The continuous sieve of the invention can be made from a perforated sieve or from an assembly of links, so that the openings of the sieve or the links are of dimensions slightly larger than the grapes.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the sieve is spread between two upper rollers forming the active part and two lower rollers forming the returning part.
According to an additional characteristic of the invention, the returning part of the sieve passes into a tray containing a cleaning product for the sieve which may contain an aseptic product.
According to an additional characteristic of the invention, the separating fingers are bent at their ends in the direction of rotation of the toothed brush.